1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a rear frame or body structure of an automobile having a door in a rear portion thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an automobile such as, for example, a hatch-back type automobile having a door in its rear portion, includes a rear body structure comprised of a side panel forming a side surface of the automobile and a rear panel connected to the side panel to form a rear surface of the automobile and having an opening for accommodating a back door movable between opened and closed positions. In such a structure, it has been desired to provide increased rigidity to the rear panel and adjacent portions, particularly to the connections therebetween, to increase the rigidity of the overall automobile body to thereby make the automobile operate more efficiently and provide a comfortable feel to a driver of the automobile.
To provide increased rigidity to the connection between the rear panel and adjacent portions, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. SHO 58-87650, entitled REAR BUMPER OF AN AUTOMOBILE, for example, discloses an arrangement disposed inside of an automobile, which is comprised of a rear end panel 1 connected to a rear frame 4 by means of a reinforcing member 11, as shown in FIG. 1 of the publication. However, the prior art arrangement has a drawback in that the reinforcing member 11 projects into the inside of the automobile, thus reducing the interior space of the automobile.
Such drawback may be overcome by arranging a rear cross member at a rear part of the automobile body to extend transversely of the automobile and a rear panel connected at its lower part to the rear cross member to thereby produce increased rigidity at the connections between the rear panel and adjacent portions. In this instance, however, since it is required to keep an automobile floor flat to provide a room at the rear part of the automobile for keeping baggages, etc., the automobile body needs to be lengthened by a distance required for disposing the rear cross member, thus resulting in an increased weight of the automobile body.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rear body structure of an automobile, which is adapted to produce increased rigidity at its connection between a rear panel and adjacent portions without reducing the interior space of the automobile and making the automobile heavy.